Will all those who will promise the Lord faithfully to do so-and-so please stand? And all the people answered with one voice, and said, "All that the Lord hath said will we do." Ex. 24:7. But they didn't.
Public opinion, whether in commendation or disapproval, is one of the most powerful influences in human experience. A dread of un favorable publicity will drive people to submit to blackmail, become reluctant liars, and promise the unwilling, the unreasonable, and sometimes even what is known to be impossible. It is not believed to be the Lord's method, but it is quite often made use of in His work.
A tithing sermon, somewhat of the scolding type, was preached in a certain conference. At its close all who would promise the Lord to be faithful in this very important duty were asked to stand; those present did so, of course, almost without exception. Among them was one wage earner not known to have been paying tithe for years and who apparently did not begin after having made such a promise by rising. (He might possibly have been asleep and thought the meeting was being dismissed.) About a year after having been driven into this reluctant per jury, he died in such a mental state that the help of strong men was required to restrain his violence. Some might be ready to argue that it would seem the Lord's blessing would have pre vented such a tragedy if he had been faithful in this important Christian duty. It is very doubtful that his unfaithfulness in tithing had received the personal attention the Testimonies tell us should be given in all such cases. It may take less effort to preach about tithing than to work faithfully for the careless.
During an inspiring colporteur service at one of our camp meetings, the one in charge asked all to stand who would "make a solemn covenant with God" to pray for our colporteurs every day during the ensuing year. Of course practically everyone stood up. I greatly question, however, that I was the only one who did so under strong mental protest without any reasonable expectation of exactly carrying out a formal vow obtained under such constraint and in regard to a matter of relatively minor importance. In getting up I actually said to myself in substance, "Lord, Thou knowest that I believe very few of our people anywhere pray for our colporteurs more often or more sincerely than I do, but it is altogether possible that I will miss one or perhaps many days during the coming year, when, for one reason or another, it will be overlooked; but what can a person do under such circumstances?"
As I expected at the time, my "solemn covenant" was broken repeatedly within the year, and with surprisingly little discomfort of con science on my part. However, if I had known beforehand that those attending this meeting would thus be "put on the spot," I would certainly have gone elsewhere rather than be con strained, against any reasonable expectation of fulfillment and merely from dislike of otherwise appearing to be a careless or stubborn back slider, to make a promise that the Lord only knew was being made with so many reservations and under such strong inward protest. Again I wondered whether some of our absentee problems might not have their roots in just such a procedure.
I feel very strongly that it is wrong to drive our people by such stampede methods. Making wholesale, old-covenant-type promises which neither those who ask them nor those who make them can reasonably expect will be strictly fulfilled is imposition. They unquestionably weaken rather than strengthen Christian experience, and I have a conviction that our workers should discontinue such a practice. Such a covenant, when called for so often, and for matters of such varying importance, becomes a mere wholesale expression of church loyalty rather than a serious "covenant with God," and neither the minister nor the people expect it will be carried out to the letter.
"Daniel purposed in his heart" with very commendable results, instead of making a conspicuous public display of his intentions. Peter wrote, "Not by constraint, but willingly," and Solomon said, "Better is it that thou shouldst not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay." There are times when it is both a duty and a privilege to "stand up and be counted," but when such standing up is against one's inclination, for reasons considered sufficient, and merely to avoid being disagreeably conspicuous in public, the result is bad in any case, and usually means promises disregarded almost without shame because they were so unwillingly given.
Some in our congregations do not like being asked even to promise, either by rising or by signature, to "do all I can" in an unquestionably good cause. Why? Because no one but our Saviour would fulfill that promise. Isn't the Lord much more pleased with glad, spontaneous service than with that given through fear? One might well question the reporting of such a procedure as "a most wonderful meeting."
Sister White in her day very clearly sensed the danger of making urgent calls, under pressure, for means at our large gatherings. We would do well to read the entire chapter on "Systematic Benevolence" in Testimonies, volume 3, pages 408 to 413. On pages 410 and 411 she says:
"I am fully convinced that it is not the best plan to bring a pressure upon the point of means at our camp meetings. Men and women who love the cause of God as they do their lives will pledge upon these occasions, when their families must suffer for the very means that they have promised to give to advance the cause. Our God is not a taskmaster, and does not require the poor man to give means to the cause that belongs to his family and that should be used to keep them in comfort and above pinching want.
have hitherto been attended with apparently good results so far as the wealthy are concerned. But we fear the result of a continued effort to thus replenish the treasury. We fear that there will be a reaction. Greater effort should be put forth by responsible men in the different churches to have all follow the plan of God's arrangement. If systematic benevolence is carried out, the urgent calls at the camp meetings for means for various enterprises will not be necessary."
Although I do not know all the answers to this problem, it does seem to me that as workers we need to put a great deal of study and prayer into it. In some instances would it not be well, when a really important cause is at stake, to have an aftermeeting, asking those to remain who have a definite burden for this particular project? Naturally not all would remain, but if such a plan were tried, people would soon sense that we were becoming more understanding, and in time our whole approach might improve.
Has the plan of signing cards been overdone? If a card were prepared to be handed out at the right time to those who had raised their hands, the approach would again be more effective. In time the percentage of responses to such a call would increase. Our people would begin to realize that we are outgrowing these mass appeals and are stressing the needs of the individual. Isn't it a matter we should be weighing thoughtfully instead of copying a poor pattern? Appealing on behalf of God enlists the emotions of the heart. It is a serious matter for a minister to be crude or bungling in this respect. Brethren, may the Holy Spirit motivate and purify our methods for making these solemn appeals.
